Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Former Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat died of AIDS, Secretary-General of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command Ahmed Jibril said.

In an interview on Hizballah's Al-Manar television last week, Jibril said that P.A. Chairman Mahmoud Abbas [Abu Mazen] had told him that Arafat died of AIDS, according to a translation provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

"When Abu Mazen came to Damascus with his team, I asked them: 'What happened to the investigation into the death of Abu Amar [Arafat's nom de guerre]? The Israelis killed him. He was my colleague ever since 1965 and used to sleep at my home. He and I followed the same path,'" Jibril said.